Confessions
by CandyStars121
Summary: For the Revolution Redux Challenge: Prompt- Charlie's in the cage with Monroe. Connor's whored out...
1. Chapter 1

It had been hours since Gould had dumped the three of them in the cage after their plan to obtain the diamonds to pay Duncan for the mercenaries went up in smoke. Charlie sat leaning up against the metal fencing, still chilled by the cool night air. The only thing left for her to do was think about their predicament and watch the slow rise and fall of Monroe's chest as he remained sprawled out on the dirt on the other side of the cage. She had tried to sleep after Gould and his men had come and hauled Connor back out of the cage, but it was useless.

Although she wondered where he had been taken and what Gould had planned for him, she would be lying if she said she wasn't grateful that they had left just her and Monroe here in the cage. Once they had been brought in and the gate locked behind them, Connor just would not shut up and she quickly found herself wishing the men had knocked him out instead of Monroe.

Sitting there now, she found herself trying to mentally will him to wake. She had seen him knocked out before but it had never taken this long for him to come back around and part of her was beginning to wonder if he ever would. They had rather effectively knocked him upside the head with a metal pipe and Charlie knew from her time with Maggie that head injuries were tricky things. Hit someone just the right way and they would be lost forever. She fought to keep those thoughts away, choosing instead to focus on his shallow breathing and thinking of how he wouldn't be laying there at all if he hadn't been distracted by Connor. No, this capture was definitely not part of the plan.

In truth, she couldn't help but wish that Miles had never revealed that he knew where Connor was. Ever since they had come back from Mexico with Connor in tow, things with Monroe had changed. It seemed to her like Connor's very presence had everything going haywire. The bond that she had started to form with Monroe since their first trip to Willoughby from New Vegas was strained, and Monroe was becoming even more distant from the group than he had been before. She didn't miss the hushed conversations between the two of them that would abruptly end when one of them were near. And part of her was becoming more and more worried that he had planned on taking off with Connor and letting the rest of them fend for themselves against the patriots.

It's part of the reason she had insisted on coming on this little trip in the first place, knowing that if she went, he'd have no choice but to come back. The other part, her hope that being with him away from her family would give her the space she desperately needed to figure out what all these feelings she had in regards to Monroe actually meant. She wasn't even sure when her feelings towards him had started to shift, hatred to respect, respect to want, want to need. Sometimes it was all just too much for her to process. Somehow through all of it, she had managed to forgive him for his part in the deaths of her loved ones.

Now, though she would deny it if asked, she couldn't imagine her life without Monroe being a central part of it. He has become someone that she could even depend on. He always came back. Even when Miles had focused all of his time and energy on her mother and Charlie felt as though she was being left behind, Monroe was always there reminding her that she still had him. The more time they spent together, training, fighting, bantering back and forth as if they had been friends for years, the more she wanted to be around him. Then Connor happened. She thought screwing him was a great idea at the time. She had no feelings for the guy aside from irritation at taking her place in Monroe's world so she didn't have to worry about forming any kind of attachment to him. Sleeping with him would be the next best thing to sleeping with Monroe himself, and in some way she felt like she was getting back at Monroe for whatever was obviously going down with Duncan after he shoved her and Connor out of the negotiations, telling them to take some to see the sights. 'See the sights', yeah, she saw them alright and wasn't impressed.

Then he had caught them after doing the deed. Okay so maybe that bit had been planned. But she certainly hadn't expected his reaction to be quite so severe. She thought back to the look on his face when he spoke to her afterwards. She knew he was pissed but there was something else there. Disappointment…..hurt even. She couldn't figure out why he had reacted that way.

Charlie groaned loudly putting her head in her hands and scrubbing at her face, trying to force herself to forget the kicked puppy look he had on his face and the way he reverted to calling her Charlotte immediately after.

Monroe startled awake, looking around him quickly to try and get his bearings.

"Rise and shine" he heard her call out, sarcasm dripping from the words. Putting his hand on the back of his head assessing the rather large knot that had formed there from where Gould's men had knocked him out, he turned to his left to see Charlie smirking at him.

"Not funny, Charlotte" he said, scowling at her.

"Oh, come on Monroe, we've upgraded...at least this time we're not tied up and forced to stand."

"Yes, because a cage is much better accommodations than a drained swimming pool. At least in that scenario we could actually escape from being tied up. Here….we've got fencing surrounding us and the fucking muppets guarding us" he glared at the scrawny guy with fiery red hair standing by the entrance of the cage who responded with a look of his own while puffing out his chest and trying to make himself appear more formidable.

"Would you listen to that!" Charlie laughed "Finally using a pre-blackout reference I understand." She stood, wiping the back of her jeans with her hands and moving to stand in front of the guard in question. "He kinda does look like Elmo, doesn't he?"

When she didn't get a response, she looked over her shoulder to find Monroe scratching his head and looking like he was trying to figure something out. Turning to him she crossed her arms and plastered a big cheesy looking grin on her face. "Something wrong?"

"Uh, yeah...where the hell is Connor?"

At that Charlie let out a good laugh and started clapping her hands. "Wow, Monroe, I'm impressed. It only took you, what, twenty minutes to realize your kid is missing. Really working on that father of the year award, aren't you?"

"You think this is all very humorous, don't you Charlotte?"

"The situation, no….you on the other hand, immensely."

He stood there staring at her, his face completely void of emotion. He wasn't entirely sure how to react to her oddly chipper mood in light of being locked up once again with someone she clearly hates. There was a while there where he thought perhaps they were past things and were, if not becoming friends, at least coming to a mutual understanding in their partnership. And that's exactly what Charlie was was to him...his partner. Not in all the ways he would have liked, but in fighting that was exactly what he considered her. She was in every way his equal. He had her back, and she had his, and more and more he found himself not longing for the days when it had been Miles at his side.

Sure the two of them had been thrown together most of the time for no other reason than Miles' inability to detach himself from Rachel, but now, he was glad. Fighting next to his Charlotte he was beginning to feel more comfortable than he had even with Miles. Oh, who the hell was he kidding, she wasn't his Charlotte. Never would be. Even if seeing that brand on her wrist did spark a sense of possessiveness in him, he knew the reality was that she would never feel the same way about him as he did about her. She would never realize that even if she wasn't his...he was wholly and completely hers. Even catching her screwing Connor didn't change that fact.

She held her hands up in mock surrender. "Okay, okay, geez, Gould pulled him out a couple hours after we all got tossed in here."

Of course! Now not only did he have to worry about trying to get Charlie safely out of here and back to Miles, but he had to figure out where the hell they took Connor, and try and get him out too. One escape was one thing...two in the same day, that was going to be a stretch even for him without more backup than Charlie.

He strolled up to her, placing himself just few inches away from her. "And you, what, didn't think to stop them?" He knew it was unrealistic to think there was anything she could have done to stop them, but he found it a little unnerving that she wasn't more bothered by her boy toy being dragged away.

"Yeah Monroe, because there's a whole lot I can do by myself with no weapons, against Gould and four of his men. Maybe if you hadn't been so thoroughly enjoying your little nap we could have done something about it."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nothing, nevermind."

"So do you even know where they took him?" he narrowed his eyes and glared at her.

"Nope" she responded, making sure to pop the p in a show of true Matheson dramatics.

"Well, that's just fucking great Charlotte. Did you get any useful information at all. Like what exactly they're planning on doing with us?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing other than Gould saying he had 'something special' planned for us, which could mean anything."

"Oh and something special it is" Gould drawled out strutting his way up to the gate. "General Sebastian Monroe….oh how the mighty have fallen. And Miss Matheson." He glanced over at Charlie with a smirk while lacing his fingers through the metal.

If he had something sharp and pointy he would have jabbed it in the bastards eyes for he way he was looking Charlie up and down like she was a piece of meat.

"Alright Gould, enough with the games, what do you plan on doing with us? And where the hell is my kid?" he was quickly losing his patience with the man.

"You're son...well, now he has just made an excellent addition to my list of, how should I put it...escorts"

"You've gotta be kidding me Gould, you're whoring out my kid!?" the thought made him laugh which Gould seemed to find amusing judging by the look on his face.

"Oh yeah, you should be proud, he fetches a good price. Who knew so many ladies wanted a go with a Monroe." he said, pointedly looking at Charlie who threw her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.

Monroe didn't miss the quick glare she shot in his direction just daring him to say something. In truth he wanted to say something. Confront her about it, but it certainly wasn't something he was going to bring up in front of Gould, especially when they had more important things to worry about the moment.

"As for you two….you're little failed heist just gave me the opportunity to become a very wealthy man. I mean opportunities like these don't come along every day so you've.."

He was interrupted when Monroe slammed his hand against the fencing near Gould's face. "Get to the fucking point, Gould"

"Well what kind of fool would I be to pass on the chance to profit off the well known ill will between Matheson and Monroe? Which by the way is clearly a crock of shit looking at the two of you. You really are a dysfunctional bunch aren't you?"

At that Charlie laughed and came up to stand beside Monroe. "And how do you plan on making this profit exactly?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Gould's seemingly permanent smirk became a wide grin as he glanced back and forth between the two of them.

Monroe lowered his head, shaking it as he spoke low "He's gonna make us fight."

"Oh, yes, but not just a fight General" he said with a chuckle "A fight to the death. Only one of you will be leaving that cage alive."


	2. Chapter 2

"And remember," Gould continued, "make it entertaining. These people are paying good money, they want a good show. Don't even think about throwing the match, cause I'll kill ya both just for the fun of it"

Charlie stiffened at the words she was hearing, even as Monroe continued to argue it out with him. She could hardly focus on what he was saying.

"What the hell Gould!? You're gonna make me go up against a woman? And you know this is never gonna work, you do realize this is not THAT Matheson, right?"

He shrugged his shoulders "Yeah, well, the names alone will bring in the crowds...no one needs to know it's not that Matheson until fight time. And I'm pretty sure they'll still find it entertaining."

His maniacal laughter sent a shiver down her spine forcing her to tune them out after that. She didn't want to hear any more. It was clear when Monroe had laid out the plan to them that it was a bad idea and she wasn't sure why he was doing it. It wasn't like him. His strategies were usually well planned out but this….this was like he was just trying to get it over with and get out of town. But, there's nothing stopping him once he gets something in his head so they had no choice but to go with it. They needed the men. And if that was what was going to get them the diamonds needed to get them, then that's what they were going to do

Even knowing the possibility that the plan could go wrong and that they could get caught, she never expected the punishment to be this severe. It's not as if Gould hadn't recovered his diamonds.

So this was it. This was where she would die. Certainly something she never saw coming, not this soon at least. She had been honest with Connor when she had told him that they wouldn't survive the year, but she had expected to go out in a heated battle against the patriots. This just felt all wrong to her. It didn't even phase her that Monroe would be the one to end her. Spending so many months fighting with him against the patriots she was well aware of his skills with a sword and knew that even on her best day, she would never be able to defeat Sebastian Monroe. Not that it mattered, even if she did have the ability to, she would have to let him win. When it came down to it, she knew that the survival of the rest of her family depended on Monroe going up against the patriots with them. If there was one person that had to get out of there alive and back to Willoughby, it was him.

She shuddered at the thought. Here she was about to die to save a man who less than a year ago she had tried to kill. But maybe this could be an opportunity for her as well. There was an almost feeling of freedom in knowing that you would die soon. She could finally admit out loud to him that she had feelings for him, that she forgives him for his part in her losses. This was something that she could give to the one person who for months now, had been a constant in her life. He could go on with his life, fighting the patriots to save her family, while knowing that there was someone who could see past his mistakes and failures and forgive him, love him even. It would all be without consequence to her since she would soon be gone, but maybe if he knew she forgave him, then he could begin to forgive himself. She wanted that for him more than anything else.

Her biggest regret now….not saying something sooner. Maybe if she had, and he felt the same way, she could have had at least a moment of happiness before death.

A strained laugh escaped her as it occurred to her that it only took the prospect of impending death for her to sort through those feelings that she had been thinking about earlier. It was clear to her now...she was in love with him. All those thoughts she had about Duncan, and Connor, and even about Miles when Bass would talk about him with such a smile on his face, had all just been jealousy getting the best of her.

His clammy, calloused hands clamped down on her upper arms, giving away his nerves. She could register that he was speaking to her, but was completely lost in her own thoughts. There was no real reason for him to be nervous that she could see.

Sure, Rachael would be pissed, but that would be nothing new...she already blamed him for anything and everything wrong in her life. But it would be mostly a bunch of hot air, since Charlie knew that her mother didn't feel the same kind of motherly love and devotion to her that she had to Danny, and probably wouldn't make near as big a stink about her death as she had his.

Miles, yep, Miles would be the one who cared the most. Even if he had been wrapped up in Rachel land ever since the tower she knew without a doubt that he loved her and would give anything for her to be happy and safe somewhere away from all of this. But even Miles was practical. He would see it for what it was. A strategic decision that had to be made. Hell, even Miles couldn't have talked his way out of this had he been there. He would forgive Bass, and he would fight even harder against the patriots.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as he gently shook her, trying to capture her attention.

"Charlotte…..Charlotte, look at me"

She did, pulling back out of his grasp and snapping at him "WHAT?"

"Where the hell were you? I've been trying to talk to you for the past ten minutes and you're just staring off into space."

Not entirely sure she was ready to go into all of her thoughts at the moment, she only responded with a simple "It's okay" and then turned to walk away from him. Not that she could get very far being trapped in that cage with him, but she was desperate for a few more minutes to process everything.

Of course, Bass was Bass, and if he wanted to talk to her that's what he was going to do. He reached out his hand, wrapped it firmly around her elbow and yanked her around to face him. Pulling her impossibly close to his chest. Making it increasingly more difficult for her to breathe or even think straight.

"What's okay?" he asked, searching her eyes as if he expected that he would only find the answer there.

She tried to step back from him to get some distance, but that only made his grip even tighter.

"It's okay that you have to kill me. That's the only option here."

Her response was met with what she could only think of as the first honest laugh she'd ever heard out of the man. She loved the sound of it, wishing that there had been more occasions where she could have heard it although she wasn't sure how to respond. Part of her wanted to laugh right along with him, the other thought she should be offended that he was laughing at her.

Instead she smiled wryly at him, shrugging her shoulders, about to ask him why he was laughing at her but as she opened her mouth she was silenced by him placing a finger over her lips.

"Charlotte, I'm not going to kill you. And if you really think that I could ever do that, then you don't know me nearly as well as I thought you did."


End file.
